


Born to Run

by Deus_Ex_Ash



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: M/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Songfic, introspective
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-12
Updated: 2015-12-12
Packaged: 2018-05-06 09:10:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5411144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deus_Ex_Ash/pseuds/Deus_Ex_Ash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Greed, Ed, and the rest of the gang have been out in the forest for a while now. With the threat of Armagedon looming on the horizon, they start to think what they want out of life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Born to Run

**Author's Note:**

> This is a songfic. The name of the song used is "Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen. I was listening to it earlier and it made me think of these two.

I **n the day we sweat it out on the streets of a runaway American dream**

**At night we ride through the mansions of glory in suicide machines  
Sprung from cages out on highway nine,  
Chrome wheeled, fuel injected, and steppin' out over the line  
H-Oh, Baby this town rips the bones from your back  
It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap  
We gotta get out while we're young  
`Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run**

Ed leaned up against a tree. It was damp and smelled of wet bark and moss. He could feel the dampness of it soaking his clothes. His hair hung loose and limp around his face. He’d stopped caring about appearances long ago and just put it up out of formality at this point.

He was tired. He was tired of going through the motions. He was tired of putting up the front of the Fullmetal Alchemist, the alchemist of the people. He was tired of pretending to be unshakable. He was sixteen years old; he wanted to be sixteen years old. He wanted to be a kid again.

He was tired of being Fullmetal.

**Yes, girl we were**

The name Fullmetal was a rather sick joke. The term “full metal” actually referred to the metal casing around a certain kind of bullet. That metal casing or “full metal jacket” would protect it from the soft led core that was the actual bullet.

It was cruel because that’s what the title Fullmetal really was. It was a protective jacket worn to protect the soft core that was Edward. He’d have to wear that title in order to protect himself and the people he loved. And he was damn tired of it.

**Will you let me in I wanna be your friend  
I want to guard your dreams and visions  
Just wrap your legs 'round these velvet rims  
And strap your hands 'cross my engines  
Together we could break this trap  
We'll run till we drop, baby we'll never go back  
H-Oh, Will you walk with me out on the wire  
`Cause baby I'm just a scared and lonely rider  
But I gotta know how it feels  
I want to know if love is wild  
Babe I want to know if love is real**

Greed sat by the fire. It had long since burned out. He’d long since stopped caring about stoking the fire, it didn’t matter anymore. He didn’t want to spend the rest of his life stoking fire. He didn’t want to be out there, to be free. He wanted to find some place to call his own.

He wanted the world at his feet.

O **h, can you show me**

He’d had the world once. His had world consisted of a little pub in Dublith. He’d built himself a home for those who didn’t have one. He’d found people that he called possessions but really, they’d owned him. They had him wrapped up in their dysfunctional little family and he’d loved them for it.

**Beyond the Palace hemi-powered drones scream down the boulevard  
Girls comb their hair in rearview mirrors  
And the boys try to look so hard  
The amusement park rises bold and stark  
Kids are huddled on the beach in a mist  
I wanna die with you with me on the street tonight  
In an everlasting kiss**

Then he’d thrown them away.

As Ling had eloquently put it; he’d tossed them away like trash. He didn’t deserve to call himself Greed. He wanted the world. He’d wanted money, women, and glory. He’d wanted sex, status, and all the finer things in life. Now all he wanted were his friends.

**The highway's jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive  
Everybody's out on the run tonight  
But there's no place left to hide  
Together Wendy we can live with the sadness  
I'll love you with all the madness in my soul  
H-Oh, Someday girl I don't know when  
We're gonna get to that place  
Where we really wanna go  
And we'll walk in the sun  
But till then tramps like us  
Baby we were born to run**

Ed stood up from the tree **.** He knew it would be over soon, the Promised Day would be here soon. He’d save this country, he’d protect his loved ones, and he’d restore his brother’s body. He’d make things right. He’d leave the military and shed the Fullmetal Alchemist name. He’d be Edward Elric again.

For now though, he’d have to keep moving forward.

He pinned his hair back up and started for the fire. The sun would be rising soon and they didn’t have time to waste. He found Greed standing with one of his rare introspective looks on his face. Ed had never known Greed to be thoughtful. The idea that Greed could be thoughtful brought a smile to his face.

**Oh honey, tramps like us  
Baby we were born to run**

Greed stood up. He’d come to a decision. He’d take the world from Father. He’d robbed him of his own life; he’d stolen the world from him. Greed hated being stolen from. If he saved the world and got to keep it, he’d go for the next best thing. He’d get  _his_ world back. He needed some place to call home again. He needed his friends back.

“That’s not the answer Greed and you know it.”

Greed blazed internally. Of course that was the answer. He’d take what he wanted, what he’d deserved. That’d been how it always been. That was the only way to get what Greed wanted, by taking it.

“Yeah and look how well that’s gotten you.”

Greed was stumped at that. It had gotten him a damp fire in the middle of the woods with people that didn’t give two shits whether he lived or died. That wasn’t much to brag about.

He was contemplating his own ill-gotten gains when Edward had come waling in. He had a fire in his eyes. It was a fire that Greed hadn’t seen in a long time. That fire had washed away the introspection and guilt. 

He was immensely grateful for that.

**Come on with me, tramps like us  
Baby we were born to run**

 The two of them stood facing each other. They’d been spending their entire lives searching for an end. They’d wanted to find a place to settle down and just be happy, be human. Staring at each other, they saw a bit of that desperation to feel normal, to feel whole again, in each other.


End file.
